Hi, I’m Nicole - a therapeutic play practitioner, former Montessori lead guide, special needs facilitator, and mom to two beautiful children. My journey into play therapy began long before my formal training. Over the years, while working in Montessori environments and supporting children with additional needs, I found myself increasingly drawn not only to children’s behaviour, but to the deeper story underneath it. I became deeply curious about the child behind the behaviour - the child who perhaps needed more support, more understanding, more connection, or simply someone to truly see and hear them. Again and again, I witnessed how children communicate through behaviour when they do not yet have the words for what they are feeling. I also saw how profoundly children shift when they feel emotionally safe, accepted, and understood without judgement. Those experiences planted the seeds for my passion for play therapy. As both a therapist and a mother, I understand that parenting can hold so much love, while also feeling overwhelming, exhausting, and uncertain at times. I know the deep desire parents carry to support their children well, especially when their child is struggling emotionally, behaviourally, socially, or at school. My hope is always to create a space where both children and parents feel supported, held, and understood. My clinical training has included working within a variety of schools across Cape Town, where I have supported children from diverse backgrounds and with differing emotional, developmental, and relational needs. These experiences deepened my understanding of the importance of attachment, connection, and emotional safety in a child’s development and healing. What I love most about play therapy is that it meets children where they are. Children naturally express themselves through play, and within a safe therapeutic relationship, play can become a powerful way for children to process emotions, experiences, fears, and relationships that may otherwise feel too big or confusing. There is something incredibly meaningful about witnessing a child begin to feel safer within themselves - often through the simplest moments of play, connection, creativity, humour, curiosity, or quiet presence. My approach is warm, relational, playful, and deeply child-centred. I believe healing happens in connection, and that when children feel seen, heard, accepted, and emotionally safe, gentle but meaningful shifts can begin to take place. When I’m not in the playroom, you’ll usually find me with a coffee in hand, spending time with my family, or appreciating the beautifully quirky and complex ways children experience the world.